British lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved British Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for an early general election to be held on June 8.

Britain's lower house of Parliament on April 19 voted 522 to 13 in favor of May's motion for the snap poll, easily securing the two-thirds majority of the 650-seat legislature required for the elections to go ahead.

Before the vote, May told lawmakers that an early election would give Britain "certainty and stability" as London negotiates with Brussels on the country’s departure from the European Union.

"I believe that at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, not division," May said.

The opposition Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats welcomed May’s surprise call on April 18 for the early poll, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) signaled that its deputies would abstain in the vote.

Britain's most recent general election was in 2015 and before the April 19 vote, the next one was to have been held in 2020.